


Gashadokuro

by MurderRose



Series: Corona Drabbles [28]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Korean mythology & folklore, M/M, That's the question folks!, Trust, can be read as either, carousel, friends?, or more?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:41:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23723245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MurderRose/pseuds/MurderRose
Summary: The Gashadokuro are spirits that take the form of giant skeletons and are fifteen times taller than an average person, said to be created from the amassed bones of people who died of starvation or in battle, without being buried.That's a myth.Or is it?
Relationships: Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups & Hong Jisoo | Joshua & Yoon Jeonghan, Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Hong Jisoo | Joshua/Yoon Jeonghan
Series: Corona Drabbles [28]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1674001
Kudos: 13





	Gashadokuro

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy!
> 
> Characters are their own, this is fiction.

Whose idea it had been to break into the old fairground in the middle of the night, Joshua had no idea, but it certainly hadn’t been his. The three of them were weaving through the turned off rides and giggling like lunatics high on sugar.

They were certainly lunatics anyway.

Seungcheol stopped in front of the haunted house and Jeonghan whined loudly, “Nooo it’s too dark and scary already,” pushing at Seungcheol. Or trying to push him. Joshua laughed, it was like Seungcheol was rooted to the ground and Jeonghan was a leaf.

“Come on,” Joshua laughed, tugging at Seungcheol, Jeonghan was still pushing at his other side, ineffectively. “I see the carousel,” he pointed and Seungcheol moved, sending Jeonghan toppling and nearly falling but for the two of them catching him with a laugh.

Jeonghan went ahead of them grumbling about 'ridiculous gym addicts' and 'way too strong for their own good'.

They'd wanted to go on the carousel since the fair had opened, but they'd had exams and study and study and exams and essays and essays and essays and hadn't had a minute of time and now they were just about packed and ready to go home for a break. Final year finished. They had plans for a holiday, just the three of them, in August, but they wanted one last hurrah before they left Pledis University for the last time.

All three of them had just finished their final exams in music. They had courses in common, but while Seungcheol was in the Bachelor of Music program, Jeonghan studied Music Education and Joshua was training to use music in therapy. 

They arrived at the carousel, backlit by the full moon, and eerie in the stillness of the night. They stood there, Seungcheol looping his arms around both of their shoulders, looking at the ride. 

“Ready?” Seungcheol asked quietly and the other two nodded. “Ok, go pick a horse, I’ll ring Wonwoo.”

Jeonghan and Joshua went onto the carousel, each picking a horse beside each other, beautifully white with golden manes and a brown saddle. Once Seungcheol was off the phone, he picked the one beside them, exactly the same horse. The entire carousel was filled with replicas of the exact same horse.

Wonwoo was a friend of Seungcheol from the year below, studying music technology, but he knew someone who knew someone who knew someone who knew the person working with the person in charge of the carousel and had made a few calls to get them the carousel for the night. As long as they could get there themselves. 

After a few seconds, the ride started up and the lights flickered on. The carousel started to turn, slow at first, but then, like the music, it sped up until they were going at a breathtakingly fast pace.

Jeonghan, in the middle, screamed at the other two, “What’s going on?! Is it broken?”

Seungcheol shouted back, “It’s fine, do you trust me?”

There was a moment where all they could hear was the whipping of the wind through their clothes and the otherworldly tinkle of the fairground music, and then the two boys nodded. 

“Of course I do, Cheol”

“I trust you”

“Hang on tight!”

The ride sped up and for a second, Jeonghan and Joshua thought they were going to die but then, without reason or explanation, everything stopped. The music stopped. The lights seemed to get brighter, but the bulbs weren’t lit up. The movement stopped, abruptly but gently, as if someone was holding them so that they wouldn’t smash into something or get whiplash.

“Cheol? What’s going on?” Joshua asked, reaching out to hold onto Jeonghan, something felt … unnatural. They both looked to Seungcheol and gasped, Jeonghan squeezing Joshua’s hand so tightly he felt his bones rub together.

Seungcheol, glowing in the strange bright light, appeared to have no flesh. His eyes were glowing a bright whitish gold, and his clothes were glowing too. Glowing and floating. He was hovering slightly off his horse, his horse which had somehow come alive and they could see its muscles rippling under its skin.

Jeonghan scrambled off his own, suddenly alive, horse, and Joshua wrapped his arms around him from his perch on top of his own horse. Jeonghan’s pulse was racing and he gripped Joshua’s hands tightly where they were crossed on his chest. “Shua?” he whispered, high and scared.

“Seungcheol, what is going on?” Joshua’s voice was forced calm, it wouldn’t do to have the two of them terrified. 

“I meant to tell you before,” Seungcheol’s voice boomed from all around them and Jeonghan shivered. Joshua gripped him tighter, what in the world?

“I just couldn’t find the right time, I mean, how do you tell someone you’re one of the Gashadokuro?” he laughed to himself, shaking the air, and the other two froze.

Gashadokuro bit off people’s heads and drank their blood.

“Seungcheol, you asked us if we trust you, and then you tell us you’re a gashadokuro, we’re going to need something else…” Joshua said tightly and Seungcheol sobered.

“I’m not going to eat you, if that’s what you’re wondering. I’m still Seungcheol. Just like Wonwoo is a Kumiho and Vernon is a werewolf. I’m still me, just a little bit extra.”

“Wonwoo and Vernon are what?” Joshua leaned to whisper in Jeonghan’s ear and he shook his head, refusing to take his eyes off Seungcheol, neither of them had had any clue that the mythical and magical lived among them.

“Mama always said that full humans would find it hard at first, but this is my home realm.” Seungcheol waved a massive bony hand around them, “It’s not quite an underworld, more an adjacent world. Some of the fae live here too, but mainly it’s just the Gashadokuro.

“Seungcheol-ah? Can we talk back in our realm? You’re scaring me,” Jeonghan asked politely and quietly, pushing back so hard into Joshua that he nearly tipped over the horse.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I thought this would be fun and cool, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Seungcheol reached for Jeonghan, his skeletal arm unfolding and stretching over the horse in between them. Joshua, in a show of pure adrenaline, pulled Jeonghan up onto his own horse, trying to get it to move back out of Seungcheol’s reach. Jeonghan shrieked.

“Seungcheol, stop it, bring us home now please” Joshua shouted and Seungcheol withdrew his arm, somehow managing to pout without actual lips.

Within the blink of an eye, they were back on the dark, still carousel, sitting atop the still, fake, mechanical horses.

Jeonghan was on Joshua’s horse and shaking, refusing to look away from Seungcheol, who had the most crestfallen expression on his face.

“I didn’t mean to scare you, I promise, I’m sorry”

“You should have maybe told us before you showed us, but we certainly know now.”

“Can we go home?” Jeonghan pulled Joshua off the horse, and Joshua nodded.

“Seungcheol, can you stay at Wonwoo’s tonight? Let’s meet for lunch tomorrow?”

“Of course, I’m really sorry, I didn’t think this through did I?” Seungcheol looked so sad, Joshua wanted to go over and give him a hug. Would have, but for the fact he’d just turned into a giant flesh eating monster in front of his eyes. Joshua shivered.

They practically ran home, hand in hand, not looking back and not talking.

Once they’d reached their shared apartment, Joshua pushed Jeonghan to go and change, made hot chocolate and then they finally settled, tangled together, onto the couch.

Joshua finally freaked out.

“Did you see that too? He was a skeleton, he was ginormous, his horse was alive?! Our horse was alive?! He’s a flesh eating monster. Seungcheol is a flesh eating monster! Our Seungcheol is a FLESH EATING MONSTER and he says he doesn’t want to eat us?!” Joshua was a hair's breadth away from hyperventilation but then he stopped. “Vernon is a werewolf?”

Jeonghan squeezed impossibly closer, head over Joshua’s heart, “Maybe he’s a nice flesh eating monster? He’s had plenty of opportunities to eat us,”

Joshua pondered that. Jeonghan was still shaking. Joshua wrapped his arms around him tighter.

“Let’s make a list of questions for tomorrow. For our flesh eating monster.” Joshua decided, maybe then they’d get some answers.

“Our flesh eating monster?” 

“Well, if he’s a flesh eating monster he’s hardly anyone else's?”

“That,” Jeonghan yawned, “makes no sense”

“It  _ is  _ 3am and we did just get the shock of our lives, I’m allowed make no sense” Joshua huffed, and Jeonghan nodded slowly, eyes drifting shut.

“I’m just going to close my eyes for a second,” Jeonghan murmured and Joshua knew he wouldn’t wake up and he knew it’d hurt both of their backs tomorrow, but they needed the cuddles right now. He closed his eyes too, and within moments they were both asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> Let me know what you thought in the comments below!
> 
> Rose x
> 
> [Come talk to me on Twitter](https://twitter.com/RoseEnDiamant)


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